Budget Vren - Control Rats by Nivosus

Format: Commander

Commander: Vren, the Relentless

Bracket: 3

Deck overview

This is a Dimir control/aristocrats hybrid built around Vren, the Relentless. Rather than an infinite-combo deck, it grinds the table with a dense web of one-sided sacrifice effects and -X/-X wipes, converting every opponent creature that dies into a growing army of Rat tokens. The commander's replacement effect completely changes how removal is priced: even a symmetrical effect like Toxic Deluge or Yahenni's Expertise becomes a one-sided board clear that also doubles as token generation. The deck's secondary paths are slow but real: Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor can convert a wide board into cards and eventually play opponents' libraries, while Notion Thief turns opponent draw spells into your advantage. With a low average mana value and a heavy instant-speed interaction suite, the deck plans to answer everything, force sacrifices, and finish through a brutal Rat swarm.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Accursed Marauder
  • 1 Altar of Bhaal // Bone Offering
  • 1 Amphibian Downpour
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Bident of Thassa
  • 1 Blood Pet
  • 1 Boomerang
  • 1 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
  • 1 Cephalid Coliseum
  • 1 Charcoal Diamond
  • 1 Choked Estuary
  • 1 Chthonian Nightmare
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Crippling Fear
  • 1 Cursed Totem
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Darkwater Catacombs
  • 1 Delay
  • 1 Demon's Disciple
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Dismember
  • 1 Dispel
  • 1 Dress Down
  • 1 Drown in the Loch
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Eagle Vision
  • 1 Enduring Curiosity
  • 1 Ertai's Meddling
  • 1 Everflowing Chalice
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fleshbag Marauder
  • 1 Force of Despair
  • 1 Ghost Quarter
  • 1 Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor
  • 1 Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar
  • 1 Hydroelectric Specimen // Hydroelectric Laboratory
  • 1 Idol of Oblivion
  • 1 Innocent Blood
  • 1 Into the Flood Maw
  • 8 Island
  • 1 Liliana's Triumph
  • 1 Liquimetal Torque
  • 1 Make Disappear
  • 1 March of Swirling Mist
  • 1 Merciless Executioner
  • 1 Mind Stone
  • 1 Mire in Misery
  • 1 Miscast
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Notion Thief
  • 1 Pentad Prism
  • 1 Phyrexian Reclamation
  • 1 Plaguecrafter
  • 1 Rankle, Master of Pranks
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Reconnaissance Mission
  • 1 Season of Loss
  • 1 Sheoldred's Edict
  • 1 Sky Diamond
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Soul Shatter
  • 1 Stock Up
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 12 Swamp
  • 1 Swarmyard
  • 1 Tainted Isle
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Tithing Blade // Consuming Sepulcher
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Verity Circle
  • 1 Volatile Fault
  • 1 Volatile Stormdrake
  • 1 Vraska's Fall
  • 1 Vren, the Relentless
  • 1 Waterbender Ascension
  • 1 Yahenni's Expertise